District
Kinnaur
| Headquarters | Reckong Peo |
|---|---|
| Division | Shimla |
| Formed | 1 May 1960 |
| Area | 6,401 km² |
| Population (2011) | 84,121 |
| Density (2011) | 13 per km² |
| Literacy (2011) | 80 % |
| Sex ratio (2011) | 819 |
Carved out of Mahasu district on 1 May 1960 as HP's sixth district, from the upper reaches of Bushahr state. It is a Scheduled Tribe district — the Kinnaura are the majority — and has the lowest sex ratio (819) in the state.
Kinnaur is the classical Kinnara country of the Mahabharata and Puranas, the frontier of the Indo-Tibetan world. The Sutlej enters India here at Shipki La, and the district carries both the Hindu and the Tibetan Buddhist traditions side by side, often in the same village temple.
- Reo Purgyil (6,816 m) — the highest peak in Himachal Pradesh.
- Kinner Kailash and its 79-foot rock Shivling.
- Sangla / Baspa valley and Kamru fort, the earliest seat of Bushahr.
- Nako lake and the Nako and Ropa valleys.
- Chini / Kalpa, the old district and British-era hill station.
- Chilgoza pine, apples and the highest per-capita incomes in rural HP.